Ogling and car-aoke drive up crash stats

Singing along to music in the car is one of the joys of driving for many people, but a new study reveals it can slow down reaction times compared with simply listening to music.

Volunteers using a driving simulator sang along to John Lennon's Imagine and The Monkees' I’m a Believer as part of the research carried out by psychologists from Monash University in Melbourne.

The singing drivers moved around in their lane and reacted more slowly to danger than those who were quiet.

Keep your eyes on the road...

Another survey just out suggests that a million crashes a year are caused by drivers ogling pedestrians.

Motorists distracted by gorgeous models on billboards or scantily clad passers-by caused an average of 2526 crashes each day, according to the research from Direct Line.

Men are the worst offenders (or at least most likely to admit to taking their eyes off the road) – 60 per cent of those questioned had been distracted by foxy females while just 12 per cent of women had let a hunky chap distract them from driving.

More than 2000 people took part in the survey, and 21 per cent said they found pictures of models on advertising hoardings distracting.